Through Glass
by Artemisdesari
Summary: Songfic, They both watch, never truly seeing. Will they realise? Stone Sour's Through Glass.


Through Glass

I have become the true insomniac, instead of sleeping I am now writing the obligatory songfic that one writes at one in the morning with no end in sight dammit

Dislaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, I never did, I never will. Nor do I own the song "Through Glass" that belongs to Stone Sour in all their wonderful glory.

This song is really haunting and whilst I should be working on my other fics, namely Darkness, poor neglected fic that it is, my muse attacked me when I took the migrelieve this evening which is another reason why I'm still awake.

I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

Oh God it feels like forever,

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head.

Sometimes it did, indeed, feel like she was inside his head as she watched through the mirror, not really sure when she had gone from calling her friends to being able to watch his every move in the old mirror of the vanity from her childhood. Somehow she had persuaded her father and stepmother to let her take it to college with her and then later when she had moved out, she had taken it with her to her small apartment, where she watched him when she woke in the morning and just before she went to bed at night, feeling safer in the idea that if _she_ was using the mirror to spy on him, he could not be using it to spy on _her_. Not that this had not caused her some embarrassment in the past, since she could only see him if he was near a mirror and he seemed to have a lot of mirrors in his bathroom.

'Cos I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

All I know is that it feels like forever,

But no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head.

He watched her from the comfort of his throne, one leg thrown haphazardly over the curving arm, a sloppy position, yet so very elegant. The crystal was rested delicately on the tips of gloved fingers as he tapped his riding crop absently against his raised, booted, foot. There was no noise in the throne room today, all of the goblins had gone about their work with a minimum of fuss and difficulty and he was alone to watch her as she walked past all of the reflective surfaces of the Aboveground. The very windows and mirrors were portals to her soul.

"How do you feel?"

That is the question,

But I forget you don't expect an easy answer.

Nor had she the last time he had approached her. A cold greeting, a brief, curt, reply and a disappointed pout had been the extent of their communication. Then he had simply scowled at Hoggle, told the dwarf that the fairies at the gates were out of control and vanished, taking the surprised dwarf with him and leaving Sarah to sigh and curse. All in all not a happy meeting between them.

When something like a soul becomes initialised,

And folded up like paper dolls,

And little notes,

You cant expect a bit of hope,

So while you're outside looking in,

Describing what you see,

Remember what you're staring at is me.

Each watched the other without knowing they were watched, when _he_ looked, she was working and when _she_ looked, he was often preoccupied, her mirror clouded by her watching. Yet each remembered the other as they watched, each took every expression and soft look, every absent moment as a remembrance.

'Cos I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

All I know is that it feels like forever,

And really, he mused, forever was not that long because some days he could just sit and stare at her for hours on end, barely moving, only stopping to eat or answer a summons. Other days he could not watch, or would not, he was never really sure which.

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head.

Alone or lonely, he wondered. Was there a difference or were they the same. Did he really care? Yet still he would summon the crystals, always he would sit there and watch her and he would long for her to call him and know she never would.

How much is real?

So much to question,

An epidemic of the mannequins,

Contaminating everything,

Some days it seemed like she saw him everywhere, his mismatched eyes watching her intently from shop windows and bathroom mirrors. It was like he was all around her and she knew that it was impossible. He could not be in all places at once, he could not be watching her, why would he want to?

When thought came from the heart,

It never did right from the start,

She thought of him, sometimes more than others and every now and again she could summon his image into a nearby mirror or window, for but a moment, to see what he was doing, then he would be gone, because only _her_ mirror seemed to be reliable for watching him. Sometimes, when she thought she caught sight of him in a street window, she felt a swell of well being and happiness, when he was gone she felt so alone. Other days she felt so angry she was tempted to call him just to rip his heart out and feed it to him.

Just listen to the noises,

(Now and more the stab of voices)

Before you tell yourself it's just a different scene,

Remember its just different from what you've seen.

Her head twisted as she tried to locate the source of the giggles and the singing, the little voices that had followed her for nine years. The little voices that had tormented all of her boyfriends until she was left as alone as she had been when she was fifteen. Always the same thing, always slightly different.

I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

All I know is that it feels like forever,

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Home it was, because even though she could never meet those mismatched eyes over the vast expanse of time and reality, she could imagine and feel safe. She could watch absently in the mornings, so distracted that she would often have to run for work, only to become distracted my mismatched eyes in the window of the subway train and miss her stop, to hear a cruel laugh and feel his warm breath behind her before it was gone.

Sitting all alone inside your head.

'Cos I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

All I know is that it feels like forever,

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head,

Because distracting her was just oh so much fun. She was sensitive enough to notice his presence after a prolonged period of time. Yet her noticing never stopped him, it spurred him on, caused him to find those new and more interesting ways of tormenting her and driving her to the same lonely child she had once been. Because if _he_ could not have her, then no one could.

And it's the stars, the stars that shine for you.

And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

He would listen to her wish upon the stars, wish for answers or knowledge, wish for rejected dreams or a moments respite. He would hear the stars laugh at her request and he would join them.

And it's the stars, the stars that shine for you.

And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

The stars shone above her in the fields of her weekend destination, the countryside not at hours travel from her city home. Despite what she had learnt about wishes, she could not help but wish on the brightest star in the night sky for wisdom or to find a way to _not_ watch Jareth every morning and evening. She would watch the star twinkle back at her and she knew that the wish was denied.

I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed,

Oh God it feels like forever,

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head.

For all of her life, she vowed, she would watch him. She would know his life and perhaps document it, for the few brief years she had to watch him. Pride would never let her call him. Doubt would always press at her. What if she called him and he never came? What then would be the point?

I'm looking at you through the glass,

Don't know how much time has passed,

All I know is that it feels like forever,

And no one ever tells you,

That forever feels like home,

Sitting all alone inside your head.

For all of her life, he knew, he would watch over her. When she needed him and when she did not he would always be there looking over her shoulder, because she was so careful now that she would never truly call him. He would have to content himself with watching and being eternally denied her, to look at her through the mirrors and the glass, so near and yet so far.

And it's the stars, the stars that shine for you.

She looked up at the sky above her and did not let herself think.

"Jareth," she breathed, looking back down at her reflection in the lake.

And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

He heard his name fall from her lips with the unspoken wish to the stars and again he heard them laugh. This time he did not join in. This time she had spoken his name and he would honour the power that his name had over him.

"Sarah," he whispered behind her, the name a soft caress, close enough to touch, laying a trembling, gloved hand on her shoulder.

And it's the stars, the stars that shine for you.

She turned and looked up at him, took his hands in hers.

They were alone, but together, apart, yet so close. Each was lonely, each was in the best of company.

And it's the stars the stars that lie to you.

Fin

Hmm, this took me a little while to write and it seems that I'm happy enough to post it, but not to sleep. Darn! Oh well, R&R, this is by no means a master piece, of that I am aware, it is just the normal sleep deprived offering that I was about due to make to you all anyway!

Artemis


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